[ RadSafe ] Forwarded to the list: Indian Point License extension.

[Jeff Terry]

Hi Doug, 

The INPO report (11-005) was pretty adamant with regard to the spent fuel pools. 

"Subsequent analyses and inspections determined that the spent fuel pool water levels never dropped below the top of fuel in any spent fuel pool and that no significant fuel damage had occurred. Current investigation results indicate that any potential fuel damage may have been caused by debris from the reactor building explosions."

It also states the the H2 explosion in Unit 4 was due to gas flow from Unit 3. 

While I think that far more will be known in the future when serious exploration of the site occurs. 

I think that both of this analysis is likely to be the case.

I don't think that they could rule out loss of water inventory in the spent fuel pools which may have increased the on-site dose.  

This certainly implies that the release of radioactive materials was from the reactor cores and not the spent fuel pools. Obviously, time will allow for better analysis of the situation. The people that I talked to who were on site during the initial stages of the event reported really bad conditions. I think the initial reporting had a large amount of inaccurate information and the more recent analysis like the INPO report will be proven far more accurate. 

Jeff


On Dec 28, 2011, at 8:59 AM, Douglas Minnema wrote:

> 
> I have a question for the group regarding Dr. Friedman's comments
> below.
> 
> It was my understanding that there was a general consensus that the
> primary releases at Fukushima came from the damaged reactors, and that
> the spent fuel in the fuel pools was not significantly damaged. 
> Associated with that conclusion was the hypothesis that the hydrogen
> explosion in reactor 4 was due to an inadvertent leak path from one of
> the other reactors.
> 
> At least, that was the understanding as of the special session held at
> the summer ANS conference.  Is there new information that has changed
> that understanding?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Doug Minnema, PhD, CHP
> 
>>>> Jeff Terry <terryj at iit.edu> 12/27/2011 11:57 PM >>>
> Forwarded. 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: Laurence F Friedman <friedmanla at iit.edu>
>> Subject: Indian Point License extension
>> Date: December 27, 2011 8:32:24 AM CST
>> To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu 
>> 
>> 
>> Victor Gilinsky, an NRC Commissioner during the Three Mile Island
> accident, wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times opposing the
> 20-year extension of the Indian Point operating
> license.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/opinion/is-indian-point-the-next-fukushima.html
>> 
>> Letters responding to Gilinsky’s op-ed are here
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/opinion/indian-pt-and-fukushima-alike-or-not.html?_r=1.
>> 
>> While Gilinsky is partially correct in his statement that
> containments were not designed to resist a full meltdown in fact at
> Three Mile Island more than half the fuel melted and the pressure vessel
> wasn’t damaged. The containment wasn’t even challenged. The report of
> the international commission that investigated the condition of the
> pressure vessel is available from this page
> http://guides.library.iit.edu/content.php?pid=27903&sid=205068.
> Scroll down to “Three Mile Island.” In any case, most of the releases at
> Fukushima came from the spent fuel pools, not the reactors themselves.
>> 
>> Laurence F. Friedman, Ph.D., CHP
>> Senior Lecturer, Physics Department
>> Illinois Institute of Technology
>> Room 182, Life Science
>> 3101 South Dearborn
>> Chicago, IL 60616-3793
>> (312) 842-1789
>> friedmanla at iit.edu 
>> 
> 
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